2026 Gathering in Madison, Wisconsin

Come to Madison, Wisconsin August 1-3, 2026!

Building on our success with the 2024 Gathering in Boulder, Colorado, we are headed to Madison, Wisconsin at a venue that offers meeting rooms, lodging, dining and more in one place. The Gathering will be based at the Fluno Center on the University of Wisconsin main campus. The Society has reserved 80 lodging rooms at the Fluno Center Hotel for our members at seasonal rates. Come join us!

Schedule

Friday, July 31, 2026

This will be a travel day. check-in for lodging at the Fluno Center starts at 3:00 p.m. There is parking available at the Fluno Center for $18.00 per day for lodgers. To see more on the Center, go to https://fluno.com/.

There will be registration and a reception in the Mendota Room on the 8th floor of the Fluno Center starting at 5:00 p.m. The Mendota Room adjoins Smitty’s Pub and Restaurant. Hors d’oevres will be available in the Mendota Room and drinks and other food may be ordered in Smitty’s Pub.

Saturday, August 1, 2026

Breakfast will be free to registrants who stay in the Fluno Center Hotel in the Oros Dining Room starting at 8:00 a.m. Continental breakfast will be served in the Howard Auditorium on the 1st floor for other registrants. Registration will continue outside the Howard Auditorium which is our primary meeting venue.

There will be speaker presentations in the Howard Auditorium all day beginning at 10:00 a.m.

A buffet lunch will be free to all registrants in the Oros Dining Room.

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Sunday will feature additional speaker presentations, a buffet lunch an evening banquet and an auction of a variety of donated Antarctic-related items.

The Gathering silent and live auctions have been a big hit at previous Gatherings. Might you have something you can donate to the 2026 Auction? We invite you to take a ramble through your Antarctica memorabilia and consider donating to benefit your Society. Or, perhaps, you would prefer to offer a service to fellow members. Possibilities include creating a picture book of digital images or creating a catalog of souvenir patches or making digital recording of selected text. You get the idea. How might you share your expertise with your fellow Antarctican Society members for the benefit of the Society? Send information on what you may like to donate as well as ideas, questions, and comments to 2026 Gathering Auction Committee Chair Diana Logan at antarctican.auction@gmail.com.

Monday, August 3, 2026

Monday will include tours and an afternoon event on the Lake Mendota waterfront.

Speakers

These are the speakers who have accepted our invitation to speak at the Gathering and their topics:

Dinosaurs of the Antarctic presented by Deborah Raksany of Giant Screen Films. Deborah produced the 40-minute film for IMAX and will bring a regular version to show at the Gathering. She will also discuss how the film was researched and produced. This presentation will take two speaking slots.

From the Circle to the Pole presented by Stuart Klipper. Stuart is a fine arts photographer who has been to all three USAP research stations and has semi-circumnavigated Antarctica via NSF Artists and Writers grants. His title is also the title of his upcoming book.

Herbies and Heat Waves presented by Matt Lazarra, Antarctic Meteorological Research and Data Center senior scientist. Matt will explain the technology used to obtain weather data on the harshest continent and provide some interesting weather stories.

Reminiscences of an Antarctic Glaciologist presented by Dr. Doug MacAyeal, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. Doug will discuss how 50 years of Antarctic research has shaped how humankind understands its place on the planet.

They Also Served presented by Antarctic historian Joan Boothe. Joan will consider the stories of some of the lesser-known participants in the Heroic Age expeditions.

IceCube, headquartered in Madison, will have a subject matter expert provide an overview of the world’s largest neutrino detector, including the IceCube major upgrade currently underway at the South Pole. The IceCube Project is the largest grant ever awarded by NSF. The team plans to bring a Digital Optical Module (DOM), the ‘camera’ that detects neutrinos, for attendees to see.

Opening Doors to the Most Inaccessible Places on Earth presented by Jay Dickson, Director of the Polar Geospatial Center at the University of Minnesota. Jay will describe how the PCG is opening doors to the most inaccessible places in the polar regions through its extensive geospatial data mapping services.

COLDEX, Center for Oldest Ice Exploration presented by Dr. Peter Neff, University of Minnesota glaciologist. Peter will explain this current multi-institution collaboration to search for the oldest ice on Earth. As of this printing, six-million-year-old ice has been collected in the Allan Hills.

Title TBD presented by Charles Lagerbom, author, Antarctic historian and long-time Society member. Charles will present on the Antarctic Research Vessel HERO and its historical place in Antarctic research.

Gathering Planning Guide

The 2026 Gathering Planning Guide is now posted HERE . The Planning Guide is intended to assist registrants and prospective registrants in planning for travel, lodging, parking, navigation, dining, recreation and sightseeing.

Gathering Registration

Full registration is $250.00 and includes all organized events: the reception, two full days of the speakers program, the banquet and the auction. Registration will increase to $275.00 after June 30, 2026. Registration refund policy: 100% until July 1, 2026, 50% after July 1, 2026.

Guest registrations for the social events may be purchased for friends and family and includes the reception, breakfasts, buffet lunches, and the banquet for $125.00. Guest registration does NOT include the speaker presentations on Saturday and Sunday.

Registration is a 2-step process. Please complete these steps:

(1) Complete online registration payment using the dropdown boxes below. We strongly encourage you to review a visual guide to making your payments which can be found HERE. If you have problems or questions about registration, contact Tom Henderson at 518-888-0387 or at webmaster@antarctican.org

OR

Print out the hard copy registration form HERE and mail it with a check to the address on the form.

(2) When you finish paying for all registrations, please come back to this 2026 Gathering page and fill out the form below the “Gathering Registration” box to provide us with information that we need about the people registering and any special needs the registrants have. When completed, be sure to click the “SUBMIT” button at the end to record your form answers.

Note: In the form below, “(required)” means that a response is required for this item before the form is submitted.

Gathering Lodging

The Society has blocked 80 lodging units in the Fluno Center Hotel for July 31 and August1-3, 2026 with an option to potentially extend for one night before and one night after the reserved dates depending on availability. Lodging units are priced at our group rate of $180.00 per night for a one-bed or two-bed room. Make reservations directly with the Fluno Center Hotel. A group code to get the Gathering rate for our event will be provided to those who register for the Gathering.

Attendees may choose to arrange their own accommodation elsewhere if desired. Please see the 2026 Gathering Planning Guide for a list of area hotels, motels and B&Bs. Also see the Gathering Planning Guide for more information on parking.

Gathering Donations

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to help offset expenses for the 2026 Gathering, please click HERE. Thank you!